Since this is made from a dark blue yarn Robbie didn't mind modeling it for me :) When he wrapped up in it he looked like a bat.

I made this one for my stepdaughter Jess up in Connecticut. Her birthday is January 5th and she will be 22 this year. I thought she might like a little something extra to snuggle up in while she is doing her school work on the computer. It gets mighty cold up there in January! Brrrr! Blue is her favorite color. If I make something in any other color she always complains that I should have made it in blue. I try to add different colors to her house, but she don't like it. Oh well, at least there are different shades of blue out there :)

This pattern is from Celtwich's site but unfortunately she has taken down the site due to problems with people selling it on Ebay. It was an old crochet pattern for a chair doily that I made using acrylic yarn instead.

Sunday, December 28, 2008

My deep freezer was getting too much ice in it so I had the kids scrape it out. I let Robbie make snowballs out of the fluffy stuff. There was also a bunch of ice chunks that he just tossed around the yard. The fenced yard in the background has three kids (baby,2,5) living there. They happen to be outside playing with Grandma when Robbie was making snowballs. He passed a few over to them to play with too. Their house is set much higher than our house (due to new code regulations) and the adults can stand near their backdoor and easily see over the fence. Actually, we can see them from the waist up from our side. Anywho....When I went out to check on Robbie, the Grandma was standing on the hill and laughing like crazy at silly Robbie playing in the snow.

This one is when Robbie was done playing with his "snow" and just started tossing it all around the back yard. Even down here in Florida we still wear gloves for a day or two a year so Robbie was well prepared to play in his "snow".

It was getting too slushy to make snowballs so Robbie went ahead and just dumped it all out.

I have seen some gorgeous pictures of snow on other people's blogs....but this is all I can offer for now.

Saturday, December 27, 2008

I decided this year that my extended family's gifts will all be handmade. I also wanted to use things I already had in the house.

I wanted to make quilts for my niece and nephew for Christmas. I knew I had limited time, so I went with some quick quilts.

This is the back of Bryant's (6) quilt. I dyed a white sheet with some blue dye I had in the house. I like how it looks like the sky on bright clear day.

This is of course the front. I found 2 of these panels at a thrift store. The other one will be for our couch. I just did a few stitches here and there for the quilting. I wanted to make sure he wouldn't outgrow the quilt to fast. This is twin size. He and his father are hunting and fishing outdoor type guys. I figured a jungle theme was something he could grow up with. At his age he changes his favorites so fast, it's hard to keep up. (close-up of one circle)

Christine (13) has her room painted in this color blue with green circles all over. Her room has been this color for awhile now so I thought it would be safe to make a quilt in these colors. I made her a pillow case in September in the same colors.

I tried a little free motion quilting around the circles. It is definitely something I need more practice on, but it was actually very fun!

When I saw her pillowcase on her bed recently, I knew that the colors I chose for the pillowcase matched her room perfectly. Which was good because for the pillowcase, I used sheets from Walmart. That made it very easy to match the quilt to everything since I still had some sheets in my stash. I used a flat blue-ish twin sheet for the main background and cut out a bunch of different sized circles from a lime green sheet.

I used another white sheet and dyed it with Bryant's. This made Christine's lighter in color, but it still looks nice to me. Hers has more "clouds" and I like that effect.

For my sister and BIL I went with dish cloths. When she opened them she thought they were potholders. She was already gifted with potholders this year and didn't look too pleased. I'm not sure she really "got" the idea of dish cloths, but once she uses them I think she might get hooked like the rest of us who use them. My family thought I was crazy at first when I started to make them for our house. Now they have all come around because they work so great! They gently scrub the yucky pots and also clean the glasses without scratching them. I clean my floor with them too. They have many uses :)

Friday, December 26, 2008

Here are the things the kids bought Mom this year.

Robbie went shopping with a group of kids this year. They all had their lists and their spending money. I tried to give him easy things to find for me. He knows he can just go to the craft department and buy yarn, but I knew he wanted to find some special things. I was surprised that he found exactly what I was looking for!

We needed a new dish strainer. We don't have a dishwasher in this house. Even when we did, we really only used it occasionally.

I don't know where all our slotted spoons have run off too, but we needed some more of those too. We usually use the plastic ones, but Robbie couldn't find any so he bought these instead.

Then I also have been looking at the mini food processors. I like to chop up veggies, but when I need lots for a recipe it would be nice to have a chopper. This chopper can even make small batches of soup. Perfect since I am usually the only one who eats soup.

Mandy went shopping with her Dad. They started at A.C.Moore. Mandy wanted to find the perfect gift for me. It started out that she was going to get me some kind of craft kit. Then when she saw what her older brother (Justin) bought, she felt that she needed to outdo him. They went to a few shops looking for the "perfect" gift. They ended up at a quilting shop I said I wanted to try. The ladies in the store thought that they would be getting a gift certificate. Not my daughter! She had to pick out my gift herself. She has heard me grumbling about having to unthread my sewing machine to wind another bobbin many, many times. So, she found this little toy for me. Isn't she so sweet?

Justin went shopping all by himself. He did check with Dad to see what Mom might need/want. I have been looking for a toaster oven for awhile now. I just couldn't decide which one I wanted.

I was sitting in the livingroom when he brought it in so I got to use it right away. Actually, the kids have used it the most. It heats up frozen pizza really well.

I am feeling very blessed to have such loving and thoughtful kids. I guess someone raised then well :)

All hail the mighty crafter! My goal was to have a handmade Christmas (mostly). I looked far and near for a book with a good pattern to make some dish cloths. I found some dye to use on a couple sheets for quilts. I worked hard and fast but refused to lash out at hubby for tracking sod in the house on the soles of his shoes. I was afraid it would get all over the new quilts. All went well and I went off to bed with a look of satisfaction on my face :)

Tuesday, December 23, 2008

I have been reading about Art Fire a new community to sell handmade items. Everything sounded good so I jumped in a bought a store there. For a limited time the monthly fee for a shop is only $7.00 bucks a month!! There is also no commissions or listing fees to deal with :) This monthly fee allows you an unlimited amount of items in your shop. Each item also has TEN pictures to go with it! You can list many categories also. There is also a limited free membership too.

They are a young site, but they have been doing alot of advertising both online and in print. They have advertised recently on the back cover of Craft Magazine and are planning many more advertisements with Craft Magazine.

The site is similar to Etsy, but is still very different. I love how the listing is just one page. New items rotate on the front page. When an item expires, you have the option to renew. If you choose not to renew, the listing is deleted after ten days. Not being able to delete expired items drives me nuts on Etsy!

If you already have a shop on Art Fire, please leave me any comments you might have about it. If you aren't a member, stop by and give it a look. For only seven dollars a month (which you can pay for with your PayPal account) it's worth a try.

If you do decide to give it a try, I would greatly appreciate it if you would use the link below to register so that I can be your referral. Or just place my name (Rsislandcrafts) in the referral place.

Friday, December 19, 2008

Since DJ had a monster, Robbie wanted one too. He designed Mack and I sewed him up. His arms are left over Christmas stockings that I never finished. They were cut from my nieces old Christmas dress. His legs are holiday socks from years gone by. One is Christmas and the other is Halloween. The eyes and brown fur are from a thrift store. His arms and legs are stuffed with fiberfil. His body is stuffed with bits of yarn and fabric that were in my scrap bin. I had been saving these for awhile hoping to stuff monsters with them. They make the body firm and give it some weight.

Saturday, December 13, 2008

This monster was made for DJ (12). I found this fur at a thrift store along with the eyes. The arms and legs are from old t-shirts. The fangs are just some left over white felt I had in my felt box. This was so fast and fun to make!

This Christmas tree scarf is for Mariah (10). I found the pattern here.This golfer is for my SIL Dan. He likes to spend ALL his time at the golf course. It is from an Annie's Attic pamphlet.

On most days I like to rise early. Once I have risen I like to take a deep breathe of fresh air. Soon my son will be awake and ready to start the day. Yes sir, once he is awake he goes straight to the fridge to see what is good to dine on. Mom draws the line at candy for breakfast! He tries to butter me up by bringing me a rose from Daddy's garden. Now he's gone and done it. That's one guy who knows his way to a girl's heart :)

My son Robbie (9) has been showing more and more interest in crafting with Mom. His ability to do different things has gotten much better this year. When I was at A.C.Moore recently, I found all kinds of fun little crafts for him to do. Some are just gluing, but that is OK. Even big guys need to know how to glue neatly. Most of these were only $1.00 making for a fun and not too costly time.

I always dread the after Christmas let down. The time when the kids have torn all the packages open, played with everything, and are now bored with nothing to do. I thought this year, Robbie and I can have some fun together making things over a few days. Plus, if I can't be there constantly with him he has gotten very good at following directions/pictures on the craft boxes.

I love to see how proud he is of himself when he makes something! I think felt/fleece has been his favorite to work with. He made a hoodie for his best buddy Sparky recently. I only gave the basic help of how to make the shape so it fit Sparky. Then I showed him where he needed to stitch it all together. He made his own button holes too.

Saturday, December 6, 2008

As fate would have it, my tea has yet to arrive. Now, I am not normally a big fan of tea but since I already ate ablue ant I really need something to wash him down with. At least I know I can eat ten tan ants without getting fat! I wonder if I could say the same thing if I ate a bee that I caught in my net?

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My name is Robin and I am a Wife to a wonderful Husband who "gets" me and my craft addictions. I have always loved to make things with my hands. This love has grown over the years and has broadened as it has grown. I love trying new ideas and looking for new and fun things to craft. I enjoy the challenge of designing my own patterns. I like to make things that bring a smile to people young and old. I have always believed that a handmade item will be remembered and loved for a lifetime therefore I put lots of love into each item I make.